Systems and methods for resolution of uniform resource locators in a local network

ABSTRACT

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a method for resolving a uniform resource locator may include receiving, at a router, a uniform resource locator from a client information handling system within a local network of the router. The method may also include processing, by the router, the uniform resource locator to determine if the uniform resource locator includes a local domain name of a local information handling system within the local network. The method may further include resolving, by the router, a unique address associated with the uniform resource locator and the local information handling system responsive to determining that the uniform resource locator includes the local domain name of the local information handling system, wherein such resolving is performed without resort to a domain name service external to the local network.

The present patent application is a divisional of a previously filedpatent application, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/169,315, filedJan. 31, 2014, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,444,681 on Sep. 13, 2016, theentirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates in general to information handlingsystems, and more particularly, to intelligently provisioning a localnetwork including a network router to resolve uniform resource locatorsfor one or more information handling systems of the local network.

BACKGROUND

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individualsand businesses seek additional ways to process and store information.One option available to users is information handling systems. Aninformation handling system generally processes, compiles, stores,and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or otherpurposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of theinformation. Because technology and information handling needs andrequirements vary between different users or applications, informationhandling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled,how the information is handled, how much information is processed,stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the informationmay be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in informationhandling systems allow for information handling systems to be general orconfigured for a specific user or specific use such as financialtransaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage,or global communications. In addition, information handling systems mayinclude a variety of hardware and software components that may beconfigured to process, store, and communicate information and mayinclude one or more computer systems, data storage systems, andnetworking systems.

In recent years, the use and proliferation of cloud computing solutionshas increased. Cloud computing may generally refer to distributedcomputing over a network, including the ability to execute a program orapplication on many connected computers at the same time. Cloudcomputing may also refer to network-based services, which appear to beprovided by real server hardware, and are in fact served up by virtualhardware, simulated by software running on one or more real machines.While many traditional cloud computing platforms use the Internet inorder to perform distributed computing, individuals and businesses areincreasingly employing local networks, such as home networks andcorporate intranets, wherein a cloud server within the local networkprovides cloud-based applications and/or services to client informationhandling systems within the local network. By allowing for applicationand service streaming to be performed by a local cloud server, streamingbetween the cloud server and individual client information handlingsystems may utilize higher network speeds and experience less latency ascompared to traditional approaches in which a cloud server isInternet-based.

In a local-network cloud-based approach, a cloud server and clientinformation handling systems must be able to address each other. Also,from a user-experience standpoint, addressing the cloud server from aclient information handling system should be user friendly. Thus, inorder to access the cloud server, it may be desirable to allow a user ofa client information handling system to enter into a web browser orother application a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) having auser-friendly domain name (e.g., mygames.local), and not an InternetProtocol (IP) address (e.g., 192.168.1.101) for the cloud server.Typically, resolution of URLs is performed by a domain name service(DNS), an Internet-based service which translates domain names includedwithin URLs into IP addresses, allowing resources (e.g., web pages,files, applications, etc.) to be accessed via a URL.

However, DNS may not be a desirable manner in which to perform domainname resolution for local cloud networks. Because DNS typically requiresan Internet connection, DNS may not be desirable for a local cloud-basednetwork in the event that the local network cannot access the Internet.In addition, because many such local cloud servers should not beaccessible by client information handling systems outside of the localnetwork, and the fact that such local network cloud servers may not haveuniversally unique names (e.g., the domain name “mygames.local” mayexist at numerous customer locations), DNS would not be an effectivemanner in which to perform resolution.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure, thedisadvantages and problems associated with resolution of uniformresource locators in a local network may be reduced or eliminated.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, a method forresolving a uniform resource locator may include receiving, at a router,a uniform resource locator from a client information handling systemwithin a local network of the router. The method may also includeprocessing, by the router, the uniform resource locator to determine ifthe uniform resource locator includes a local domain name of a localinformation handling system within the local network. The method mayfurther include resolving, by the router, a unique address associatedwith the uniform resource locator and the local information handlingsystem responsive to determining that the uniform resource locatorincludes the local domain name of the local information handling system,wherein such resolving is performed without resort to a domain nameservice external to the local network.

In accordance with these and other embodiments of the presentdisclosure, a method for registering a local domain name with a routermay include receiving, by the router, from an information handlingsystem a request to register with the router the information handlingsystem and a local domain name associated with the information handlingsystem. The method may also include responsive to the request,processing the request, by the router, to determine if the requestsatisfies one or more conditions for registration. The method mayfurther include responsive to determining that the request satisfies theone or more conditions for registration, registering with the router thelocal information handling system and the local domain name associatedwith the local information handling system.

In accordance with these and other embodiments of the presentdisclosure, a method may include during initialization of a router,determining, by the router, a user-friendly domain name to be associatedwith the router. The method may also include registering, by the router,the user-friendly domain name to be associated with a unique address ofthe router.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are examples and explanatory and arenot restrictive of the claims set forth in this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present embodiments and advantagesthereof may be acquired by referring to the following description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumbers indicate like features, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example local cloud network forenabling cloud-based streaming to one or more client informationhandling systems, in accordance with the teachings of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of an example method for initializing arouter, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of an example method for registering acloud server in a local network, in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of an example method for resolving a URLhaving a user-friendly local domain name, in accordance with embodimentsof the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Preferred embodiments and their advantages are best understood byreference to FIGS. 1-4, wherein like numbers are used to indicate likeand corresponding parts.

For the purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system mayinclude any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operableto compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate,switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, orutilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business,scientific, control, entertainment, or other purposes. For example, aninformation handling system may be a personal computer, a tablet, a PDA,a consumer electronic device, a network storage device, or any othersuitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality,and price. The information handling system may include memory, one ormore processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) orhardware or software control logic. Additional components of theinformation handling system may include one or more storage devices, oneor more communications ports for communicating with external devices aswell as various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, amouse, and a video display. The information handling system may alsoinclude one or more buses operable to transmit communication between thevarious hardware components.

For the purposes of this disclosure, computer-readable media may includeany instrumentality or aggregation of instrumentalities that may retaindata and/or instructions for a period of time. Computer-readable mediamay include, without limitation, storage media such as a direct accessstorage device (e.g., a hard disk drive or floppy disk), a sequentialaccess storage device (e.g., a tape disk drive), compact disk, CD-ROM,DVD, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and/or flash memory; aswell as communications media such as wires, optical fibers, microwaves,radio waves, and other electromagnetic and/or optical carriers; and/orany combination of the foregoing.

For the purposes of this disclosure, information handling resources maybroadly refer to any component system, device or apparatus of aninformation handling system, including without limitation processors,service processors, basic input/output systems, buses, memories, I/Odevices and/or interfaces, storage resources, network interfaces,motherboards, and/or any other components and/or elements of aninformation handling system.

An information handling system may include or may be coupled via anetwork to one or more arrays of storage resources. The array of storageresources may include a plurality of storage resources, and may beoperable to perform one or more input and/or output storage operations,and/or may be structured to provide redundancy. In operation, one ormore storage resources disposed in an array of storage resources mayappear to an operating system as a single logical storage unit or“logical unit.”

In certain embodiments, an array of storage resources may be implementedas a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (also referred to as aRedundant Array of Inexpensive Disks or a RAID). RAID implementationsmay employ a number of techniques to provide for redundancy, includingstriping, mirroring, and/or parity checking. As known in the art, RAIDsmay be implemented according to numerous RAID standards, includingwithout limitation, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 3, RAID 4, RAID 5,RAID 6, RAID 01, RAID 03, RAID 10, RAID 30, RAID 50, RAID 51, RAID 53,RAID 60, RAID 100, etc.

The terms “wireless transmissions” and “wireless communication” may beused to refer to all types of electromagnetic communications which donot require a wire, cable, or other types of conduits. Examples ofwireless transmissions which may be used include, but are not limitedto, short-range wireless communication technologies (e.g., proximitycard, Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), Near Field Communication(NFC), BLUETOOTH, ISO 14443, ISO 15693, or other suitable standard),personal area networks (PAN) (e.g., BLUETOOTH), local area networks(LAN), wide area networks (WAN), narrowband personal communicationsservices (PCS), broadband PCS, circuit switched cellular, cellulardigital packet data (CDPD), radio frequencies, such as the 800 MHz, 900MHz, 1.9 GHz and 2.4 GHz bands, infra-red and laser.

For the purpose of this disclosure, “short-range wireless communicationstechnology” refers to any suitable communications transport, protocol,and/or standard allowing two or more suitably-configured devices tocommunicate via wireless transmissions provided that such devices arewithin approximately one meter of each other. Examples of short-rangecommunications technologies include, without limitation, BLUETOOTH Class3, near field communication (NFC), radio frequency identification(RFID), proximity card, vicinity card, ISO 14443, and ISO 15693.

The term “wire-line transmissions” may be used to refer to all types ofelectromagnetic communications over wires, cables, or other types ofconduits. Examples of such conduits include, but are not limited to,metal wires and cables made of copper or aluminum, fiber-optic lines,and cables constructed of other metals or composite materialssatisfactory for carrying electromagnetic signals. Wire-linetransmissions may be conducted in accordance with teachings of thepresent disclosure over electrical power lines, electrical powerdistribution systems, building electrical wiring, conventional telephonelines, Ethernet cabling (10 baseT, 100 baseT, etc.), coaxial cables, T-1lines, T-3 lines, ISDN lines, ADSL, etc.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example local cloud network 100for enabling cloud-based streaming to one or more client informationhandling systems 102, in accordance with the teachings of the presentdisclosure. As depicted, network 100 may include one or more clientinformation handling systems 102 (which may also be referred to hereinas “clients 102” or individually as a “client 102”), a cloud server 112,a router 122, and an external network 108.

Each client information handling system 102 may generally be configuredto communicate via external network 108 and client server 112 via router122. In certain embodiments, one or more of clients 102 may be apersonal computer (e.g., a desktop computer or a portable computer). Inthese and other embodiments, one or more of clients 102 may be a mobiledevice (e.g., smartphone, tablet computer, personal digital assistant,etc.). As depicted in FIG. 1, each client 102 may include a processor103, a memory 104 communicatively coupled to processor 103, and anetwork interface 106 communicatively coupled to processor 103. Althoughnetwork 100 is depicted as having two clients 102, network 100 mayinclude any suitable number of clients 102.

Each processor 103 may include any system, device, or apparatusconfigured to interpret and/or execute program instructions and/orprocess data, and may include, without limitation, a microprocessor,microcontroller, digital signal processor (DSP), application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), or any other digital or analog circuitryconfigured to interpret and/or execute program instructions and/orprocess data. In some embodiments, processor 103 may interpret and/orexecute program instructions and/or process data stored in itsassociated memory 104 and/or another information handling resource ofits associated client 102.

Each memory 104 may be communicatively coupled to its associatedprocessor 103 and may include any system, device, or apparatusconfigured to retain program instructions and/or data for a period oftime (e.g., computer-readable media). Each memory 104 may include randomaccess memory (RAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory(EEPROM), a PCMCIA card, flash memory, magnetic storage, opto-magneticstorage, or any suitable selection and/or array of volatile ornon-volatile memory that retains data after power to its associatedclient 102 is turned off.

As shown in FIG. 1, a memory 104 may have stored thereon a networkapplication 105. A network application 105 may comprise a program of oneor more instructions configured to, when read and executed by processor103, communicate data to and/or from another information handling systemremote from its associated information handling system 102 (e.g., cloudserver 112 or an information handling system of external network 108).

Each network interface 106 may include any suitable system, apparatus,or device operable to serve as an interface between its associatedclient 102 and router 122. Each network interface 106 may enable itsassociated client 102 to communicate via router 122 using any suitabletransmission protocol and/or standard.

Cloud server 112 may comprise an information handling system and maygenerally be operable to communicate via router 122 with one or more ofclients 102. As depicted in FIG. 1, each provisioning server 112 mayinclude a processor 113, a memory 114 communicatively coupled toprocessor 113, and a network interface 116 communicatively coupled toprocessor 113. Each processor 113, memory 114, and network interface 116may be similar or identical in structure and/or functionality toprocessor 103, memory 104, and network interface 106, respectively.Although network 100 is depicted as having one cloud server 112, network100 may include any suitable number of cloud servers 112.

As shown in FIG. 1, memory 114 may have stored thereon a hostapplication 118. Host application 118 may comprise a program of one ormore instructions configured to, when read and executed by processor113, facilitate streaming of applications and/or services to clients102. For example, in some embodiments host application 118 may comprisea web server application configured to receive requests for streamingapplications and/or services from clients 102 and stream applicationsand/or services responsive to such requests.

Router 122 may comprise any suitable system, device, or apparatus forcommunicating data between clients 102 and cloud server 112, clients 102and external network 108, and/or cloud server 112 and external network108. Router 122 may be communicatively coupled to and may communicatewith clients 102, cloud server 112, and external network 108 viawireless and/or wire-line transmissions. As depicted in FIG. 1, router122 may include a processor 123, a memory 124 communicatively coupled toprocessor 123, and a network interface 126 communicatively coupled toprocessor 123. Each processor 123, memory 124, and network interface 126may be similar or identical in structure and/or functionality toprocessor 103, memory 104, and network interface 106, respectively.

In operation, clients 102, cloud server 112, and router 122 may beconfigured as part of a local network, wherein router 122 serves as agateway between components of the local network to components outside ofor remote from the local network. For example, router 122, clients 102,and cloud server 112 may be part of the same IP subnet. In these andother embodiments, information handling systems within such localnetwork may have greater access privileges to other components of thelocal network as compared to components remote from the local network.For example, as described in greater detail below, clients 102 may beable to access cloud server 112 with a URL having a local user-friendlydomain name, while information handling systems external to the localnetwork and coupled to external network 108 may not be able to accesscloud server 112 using the same local domain name.

As shown in FIG. 1, memory 124 may include firmware 128 and table 130.Firmware 128 may include a program of instructions configured to, whenread and executed by processor 123, facilitate translation of URLsincluding local user-friendly domain names into IP addresses ofinformation handling systems (e.g., cloud server 112, router 122). Aspart of such functionality, firmware 128 may manage and access table130. Table 130 may comprise a list, map, array, database, or other datastructure which associates domain names of information handling systemsof the local network of router 122 into IP addresses. Accordingly,router 122 may, by performing a look-up into table 130, resolve URLs forinformation handling systems of its local network without relying onDNS.

External network 108 may be a network and/or fabric configured to coupleinformation handling systems of the local network of router 122 toinformation handling systems remote from the local network. Thus,clients 102 may be able to access, via router 122, network resourcesother than those of cloud server 112. In addition, cloud server 112 maybe able to access external network 108 to update its content and/orperform other tasks.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart of an example method 200 forinitializing a router 122, in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure. According to certain embodiments, method 200 may begin atstep 202. As noted above, teachings of the present disclosure may beimplemented in a variety of configurations of network 100. As such, thepreferred initialization point for method 200 and the order of the stepscomprising method 200 may depend on the implementation chosen.

At step 202, router 122 may start up, and may execute firmware 128. Atstep 204, firmware 128 may determine if a local domain name has beenestablished for router 122 (e.g., a local domain name does not exist intable 130 for router 122). A local domain name may not exist for router122 during its first start up or its first start up after a factoryreset or similar reset of router 122. In response to determining a localdomain name for router 122 does not exist, method 200 may proceed tostep 206. Otherwise, method 200 may proceed to step 208.

At step 206, firmware 128 may assign the IP address of router 122 to alocal domain name, and store such assignment in table 130. In someembodiments, such local domain name may be a factory default name (e.g.,myrouter.local). In other embodiments, such local domain name may be inaccordance with a user or manufacturer setting that sets forth a defaultlocal domain name (e.g., supplied on an external memory coupled torouter 122 during the initialization process).

At step 208, router 122 may process received traffic in accordance withits normal operation.

Although FIG. 2 discloses a particular number of steps to be taken withrespect to method 200, method 200 may be executed with greater or fewersteps than those depicted in FIG. 2. In addition, although FIG. 2discloses a certain order of steps to be taken with respect to method200, the steps comprising method 200 may be completed in any suitableorder.

Method 200 may be implemented using network 100, components thereof,and/or any other system operable to implement method 200. In certainembodiments, method 200 may be implemented partially or fully insoftware and/or firmware embodied in computer-readable media.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart of an example method 300 for registeringa cloud server 112 in a network local to a router, in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure. According to certain embodiments,method 300 may begin at step 302. As noted above, teachings of thepresent disclosure may be implemented in a variety of configurations ofnetwork 100. As such, the preferred initialization point for method 300and the order of the steps comprising method 300 may depend on theimplementation chosen.

At step 302, cloud server 112 may start up and execute host application118. At step 304, cloud server 112 may attempt to register or confirmregistration of an associated local domain name with router 122 bycommunicating an appropriate message, and/or supplying an appropriateURL to router 122 (e.g., myrouter.local?register=“myserver.local”). Insome embodiments, such local domain name may be a factory default name(e.g., myserver.local). In other embodiments, such local domain name maybe in accordance with a user or manufacturer setting that sets forth adefault local domain name (e.g., supplied on an external memory coupledto router 122 during the initialization process).

At step 306, router 122 may receive the registration/confirmationattempt from cloud server 112 and firmware 128 may determine whether thelocal domain name supplied for by cloud server 112 is already registered(e.g., whether such domain name appears in table 130) and associatedwith the IP address of cloud server 112. If the local domain namesupplied by cloud server 112 is already registered and associated withthe IP address of cloud server 112, method 300 may proceed to step 314.Otherwise, method 300 may proceed to step 308.

At step 308, firmware 128 may determine if the local domain name has aconflict. For example, firmware 128 may determine if the domain suppliedby cloud server 112 is already registered but associated with an IPaddress other than that of cloud server 112 (e.g., associated withanother cloud server 112 as set forth in table 130). In these and otherembodiments, such conflict determination may comprise firmware 128determining (e.g., via DNS lookup) if such domain name already existsfor an IP address external to the local network of router 122. If thelocal domain name supplied by cloud server 112 has conflict, method 300may proceed to step 310. Otherwise, method 300 may proceed to step 312.

At step 310, in response to determining that the local domain namesupplied by cloud server 112 is already registered but associated withan IP address other than that of cloud server 112, firmware 128 maycommunicate an appropriate message to cloud server 112 that a conflictin domain name exists. In response to such message, cloud server 112 mayattempt to register another local domain name, and accordingly, aftercompletion of step 310, method 300 may proceed again to step 304.

At step 312, responsive to determining that the local domain namesupplied by cloud server 112 is available, firmware 128 may assign theIP address of cloud server 112 to the local domain name supplied bycloud server 112, and store such assignment in table 130. In someembodiments, firmware 128 may also delete any existing entry of table130 including the IP address of cloud server 112, such that the IPaddress of cloud server 112 appears only once in table 130. Aftercompletion of step 312, method 300 may proceed to step 314.

At step 314, router 122 may process received traffic in accordance withits normal operation.

Although FIG. 3 discloses a particular number of steps to be taken withrespect to method 300, method 300 may be executed with greater or fewersteps than those depicted in FIG. 3. In addition, although FIG. 3discloses a certain order of steps to be taken with respect to method300, the steps comprising method 300 may be completed in any suitableorder.

Method 300 may be implemented using network 100, components thereof,and/or any other system operable to implement method 300. In certainembodiments, method 300 may be implemented partially or fully insoftware and/or firmware embodied in computer-readable media.

Although not set forth above in method 300, in some embodiments, router122 may be configured with certain security measures with regard toregistration of local domain names. For example, in some embodiments,firmware 128 may be configured to reject or ignore registration requeststhat come from outside the local network of router 122 (e.g., requestscoming from an information handling system outside the IP subnet ofrouter 122). In these and other embodiments, firmware 128 may reject orignore registration requests that attempt to register an IP address notwithin the local network of (e.g., not within the IP subnet of) router122. In these and other embodiments, firmware 128 may be configured torequire that any registration request include a password or other sharedsecret of router 122. Furthermore, in these and other embodiments,firmware 128 may be configured to register only those domain names whichdo not end with a top-level domain recognized and managed by theInternet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Forexample, firmware may register domain names with a top-level domain of.local, .myserver, or other such name, but will reject or ignorerequests to register domain names with top-level domains of .com, .net,.edu, .org., .us, .ca., .mx, or other ICANN-recognized top-level domainnames.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart of an example method 400 for resolving aURL having a user-friendly local domain name, in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure. According to certain embodiments,method 400 may begin at step 402. As noted above, teachings of thepresent disclosure may be implemented in a variety of configurations ofnetwork 100. As such, the preferred initialization point for method 400and the order of the steps comprising method 400 may depend on theimplementation chosen.

At step 402, router 122 may receive a URL from a client 102. At step404, firmware 128 may determine if a domain name set forth in the URL isstored in table 130. If the domain name is not present in table 130,method 400 may proceed to step 408. If the domain name is present intable 130, method 400 may proceed to step 406.

At step 406, in response to determining that the domain name is presentin table 130, thus indicating a local information handling system (e.g.,cloud server 122) having the local domain name has been registered withrouter 122, firmware 128 may resolve the URL based on information intable 130, thus allowing the client 102 providing the URL to access theresource on the local information handling system identified by the URL.

At step 408, firmware 128 may issue a DNS lookup request via externalnetwork 108 in order to resolve the URL. If the DNS lookup is successfulin resolving the URL, the client 102 providing the URL may access theresource of external network 108 identified by the URL. Otherwise, ifDNS lookup is unsuccessful, router 122 may return to client 102 anappropriate error message (e.g., “404 Error—Not Found”).

Although FIG. 4 discloses a particular number of steps to be taken withrespect to method 400, method 400 may be executed with greater or fewersteps than those depicted in FIG. 4. In addition, although FIG. 4discloses a certain order of steps to be taken with respect to method400, the steps comprising method 400 may be completed in any suitableorder.

Method 400 may be implemented using network 100, components thereof,and/or any other system operable to implement method 400. In certainembodiments, method 400 may be implemented partially or fully insoftware and/or firmware embodied in computer-readable media.

In the embodiments represented by method 400, if a domain name isregistered both locally on router 122 and is resolvable using DNS,router 122 resolves the domain name to the local information handlingsystem as set forth in table 130. However, in some embodiments, if adomain name is registered both locally on router 122 and is resolvableusing DNS, router 122 may, in response to receiving a URL from a client102 including such domain name, respond to such client 102 with anappropriate message in regard to the conflict. For example, in such aconflict scenario, router 122 may serve a web page describing theconflict and allow a user of a client 102 to resolve the conflict (e.g.,by selecting one of the two conflicted IP addresses, or re-registering anew local domain name to rectify the conflict).

This disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions, variations,alterations, and modifications to the exemplary embodiments herein thata person having ordinary skill in the art would comprehend. Similarly,where appropriate, the appended claims encompass all changes,substitutions, variations, alterations, and modifications to theexemplary embodiments herein that a person having ordinary skill in theart would comprehend. Moreover, reference in the appended claims to anapparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system beingadapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operableto, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses thatapparatus, system, or component, whether or not it or that particularfunction is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as thatapparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable,configured, enabled, operable, or operative.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical objects to aid the reader in understanding the invention andthe concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and areconstrued as being without limitation to such specifically recitedexamples and conditions. Although embodiments of the present inventionshave been described in detail, it should be understood that variouschanges, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: during initialization of arouter, determining, by the router, a user-friendly domain name for therouter that is to be associated with the router, including determiningwhether the user-friendly domain name is in conflict with a nameresolvable to an information handling system external to a local networkof the router; and in response to resolution of the conflict,registering, by the router, the user-friendly domain name such that theuser-friendly domain name is associated with a unique address of therouter; wherein the registering causes the router to be accessible, viathe user-friendly domain name, to at least one host of the local networkof the router but not accessible to hosts external to the local networkof the router.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the unique address isan Internet Protocol address.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein theuser-friendly domain name is based on a configurable setting associatedwith the router.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the resolution of theconflict comprises receiving user input regarding resolution of theconflict.
 5. An information handling system, comprising: a processor;and a program of instructions embodied in non-transitorycomputer-readable media and configured to, when executed by theprocessor: during initialization of a router, determine, by the router,a user-friendly domain name for the router that is to be associated withthe router, including determining whether the user-friendly domain nameis in conflict with a name resolvable to an information handling systemexternal to a local network of the router; and in response to resolutionof the conflict, register, by the router, the user-friendly domain namesuch that the user-friendly domain name is associated with a uniqueaddress of the router; wherein the registering is configured to causethe router to be accessible, via the user-friendly domain name, to atleast one host of the local network of the router but not accessible tohosts external to the local network of the router.
 6. The informationhandling system of claim 5, wherein the unique address is an InternetProtocol address.
 7. The information handling system of claim 5, whereinthe user-friendly domain name is based on a configurable settingassociated with the router.
 8. The information handling system of claim5, wherein the resolution of the conflict comprises receiving user inputregarding resolution of the conflict.
 9. An article of manufacture,comprising: a non-transitory computer-readable medium; andcomputer-executable instructions carried on the computer-readablemedium, the instructions readable by a processor, the instructions, whenread and executed, for causing the processor to: during initializationof a router, determine, by the router, a user-friendly domain name forthe router that is to be associated with the router, includingdetermining whether the user-friendly domain name is in conflict with aname resolvable to an information handling system external to a localnetwork of the router; and in response to resolution of the conflict,register, by the router, the user-friendly domain name such that theuser-friendly domain name is associated with a unique address of therouter; wherein the registering is configured to cause the router to beaccessible, via the user-friendly domain name, to at least one host ofthe local network of the router but not accessible to hosts external tothe local network of the router.
 10. The article of claim 9, wherein theunique address is an Internet Protocol address.
 11. The article of claim9, wherein the user-friendly domain name is based on a configurablesetting associated with the router.
 12. The method of claim 1, whereinthe registering includes storing, in a data structure associated withthe router, the user-friendly domain name in association with the uniqueaddress of the router.
 13. The information handling system of claim 5,wherein the registering includes storing, in a data structure associatedwith the router, the user-friendly domain name in association with theunique address of the router.
 14. The article of claim 9, wherein theregistering includes storing, in a data structure associated with therouter, the user-friendly domain name in association with the uniqueaddress of the router.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein thedetermining whether the user-friendly domain name is in conflictincludes determining based on a domain name server (DNS) lookup.
 16. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the resolution of the conflict comprisesdetermining a different user-friendly domain name for the router. 17.The information handling system of claim 5, wherein the determiningwhether the user-friendly domain name is in conflict includesdetermining based on a domain name server (DNS) lookup.
 18. Theinformation handling system of claim 5, wherein the resolution of theconflict comprises determining a different user-friendly domain name forthe router.
 19. The article of claim 9, wherein the determining whetherthe user-friendly domain name is in conflict includes determining basedon a domain name server (DNS) lookup.
 20. The article of claim 9,wherein the resolution of the conflict comprises determining a differentuser-friendly domain name for the router.